“Bill and Reva
Sure put on a nice spread,
Simple but classic.
Nothing can beat
Fresh seeds
Scattered with love by the blue birds.

Doezi, didn’t answer, Dearie.
She was too busy gathering tasty morsels.

“You know, Dearie, the Mrs is an expert in this.”

“But Fawnda, how do you know these things?”

“I’ve got ears.”

“No, you have a nose. Nosiest herbivore in the family.”

“Girls stop bickering,” said Dearie.

“They’ll hear our quarrels and cut off the tasties.”

“They wouldn’t do that. They’re too kind.”

‘’All humans have limits.”

“Not this prize pair.”

“They should have named this farm Safe Haven.
Even the fawns know to hide here, At Chestnut Oak, in hunting season.

Finally chiming in the Grand Doe,
Hortense, holding court, said,

“Aren’t we the lucky ones.
Eat to your heart’s content, Gals.

Just be glad we have
The Petty’s.”
Charlene James-Duguid
Amissville, Virginia February, 2020

 

Only Donald could
Kiss away a cloudy day
Missing you, my Love.

 

 

RACONTEUR

Only he could strum,
Noodle a folksy tune on the guitar
And make it mellow
As a Martin.
But wait, it was a Martin.

Only he as an ultimate raconteur,
Could spin a sidewinder, off-color
Yarn into a sage tidbit of local truth.
Oh, but the mule did fart
He attests.

Only he holding court
Wears perfect pleated cowboy garb.
Always near a smile
Ready to snatch up
An ascot, a cravat, pocket square, or just a bandana.
His impish self, smiling through his fine sophisticated ways.

The Love of his life,
His home, his heart, his hearth
protecting him
so courageously fragile a creature.

Only His domain, the porch of a country bakery,
Peopled with delight,
His Southern gentle smile testify to her beauty
A regal knight by everyone ‘s measure
Raconteur merely the start of describing
Only Donald.

Charlene James-Duguid
Amissville, Virginia
January, 2020

Remember 2019
Anticipate 2020

Yes,
Yesterday, we found a duck.
Not a wild one or even a fresh one,
Merely a frozen slab or
Some pale avian
Raised in the wilds of
Indiana Amish country.

But it is a duck, granted,
substituted
For a wild goose,
Chosen by default.

At least, It’s not a “turducken”
One of the Cajun
Marketing ploy birds
Impossible to bred,
Hybrided only in a
Warped MBA’s brain.

Lucky we were able
To brave, then survive,
Torrential rains to fill
Our holiday larder.

Of course, it required
Meeting and combating
The Cranberry Dilemma,
Another repacking ruse,
Four ounces less for same
Price, making past recipes impossible
To convert,
Unless you use clementines
Instead of big, juicy oranges.

Anathema to a real chef
On second thought, let’s try it.
Along with white gravy
Concocted with
A mammoth parsnip

Menu still unclear,
Let’s refocus on the decor.

Tree or not?
With 23 acres of nature’s best
Walnut, Poplar, Locusts , Elms,
Why cut one of these or a
Stately pine.

How to decorate
Santa’s mechanical band.
Find a crèche.
Not much else.
No reason.

For
We have the best of everything.
We have each other.

Charlene James-Duguid
Amissville, Virginia
Completed 12/4/19